1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of bow making equipment. More particularly, the present invention is in the field of equipment particularly suitable for making self bows from a stave of suitable wood. Still more particularly, the present invention is directed to a press designed to hold a stave of wood while a bow is being made from the stave.
2. Brief Description of Background Art
The sport of archery has gained tremendous popularity in the United States of America and in many other countries as well. Bows and arrows are used in an ever increasing number for target shooting (field archery) and for hunting as well, so much so that most states of the United States of America have a special bow hunting season for big game separate from the rifle hunting season for the same game.
One type of presently used archery equipment is based on high technology and involves the use of modern plastic materials such as KEVLAR™, fiber glass or the like for the bow limbs and also cams or the like which substantially reduce the force at which the bow needs to be held while pulled back relative to the maximum pull weight of the bow. This reduction of force is normally termed in the trade “let down”. Bows which can be operated with a “let down” are known in the trade as compound bows.
In spite of the availability of the above-noted “high technology” compound bows traditional archery equipment is also popular and used for target shooting and hunting as well. Generally speaking, a bow is considered “traditional” if it lacks “let down”, that is any equipment that would reduce the holding weight of the bow relative to its maximum pull weight. Many traditional bows are still products of modern technology and contain advanced materials such as fiberglass carefully laminated and glued together with wood to form the limbs of the bow.
Still another class within the broader class of traditional bows is formed by bows which do not have laminated limbs containing any modern material but rather are made entirely of wood. Such bows are usually termed ‘self-bows” and are usually made from a stave of suitable wood. Yew and osage orange serve as examples for trees from which suitable staves for bow making can be obtained, although there are many other species of trees also suitable for this purpose. Self-bows are made by craftsmen specialized in this trade and also by individuals who make the bows as a hobby, and as a matter of self improvement and pride of their own accomplishment.
Making a bow from a suitable stave involves many steps which include forming the stave with a rasp, draw knife, saw, sandpaper and the like into the desired shape. For this and other operations involving cutting, sanding, polishing it is necessary to hold the stave rigidly in a press or vise. The current most common way for bowyers as well as hobbyist making self bows is to squeeze and hold the stave in an ordinary vise that typically has jaws that expand or come together in the horizontal direction. While making self bows there are several important problems occasioned with the use of this type of common vise.
The standard vise has parallel jaws that do not conform to irregularly shaped wood such as a stave from which a self-bow is to be made. This results in the vise crushing the wood grain as the user tightens the jaws to grip the stave tight enough so the user can work on it.
Additionally, jaws of a standard vise are relatively small. They do not provide enough surface area resulting in very high pressure per square inch (psi) bearing on the delicate wood and crushing the wood fibers. However, in order to have a long lasting and well functioning self bow the fibers of the wood must remain intact.
Another disadvantage of using a standard vise for self-bow making is that the jaws grip the wood from the sides only. Therefore, when a bowyer bears weight or force down on the stave from the top, as he often needs to do while making the bow, the weight or force tends to pry the wood out of the vise. The present invention solves the foregoing problems.
Still another disadvantage of using a standard vise for self-bow making is that the jaws of the standard vise do not pivot. This again makes the grabbing of irregularly shaped wood, such as stave for bow making, difficult and results in inadequate holding of the stave and or in crushing of wood fibers.
The above-noted disadvantages of a standard vise are also applicable to wood and other work pieces which need to be held without damage to their surface area and on which force, such as cutting, drilling, rasping, polishing and the like is applied in a substantially vertical direction.